and said to them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved the Christ to suffer, and to rise from among the dead the third day;
The risen Jesus points His disciples back to what was already written about Him. Why did the Christ have to suffer, and why does everything hang on His rising?
One writer traces how far back that writing goes.
"THE CHRIST SHOULD SUFFER." So it was written. It was not an afterthought of His. His cross was not an accident, not something unforeseen; it was written that it had to be so. It was written in the book of God's purposes before the world was made. It was written also in the Holy Scriptures, so that people of faith long ago could read it and hope. And the Scriptures cannot be broken.
One writer draws out what that settles for the preacher:
"It is written," said the risen Lord, and what is written must stand. It is as unshakable as the throne of God. Heaven and earth will pass away, but not the smallest stroke of it will fail. All of it must come true. What was written about the sufferings and resurrection of Christ has come true, and this is what the gospel preacher must tell people.
Why "should" the Christ suffer? One writer gives two reasons. The first is what God is:
First. It was because of what God is in Himself, and always was. He is righteous, holy, and hates sin. At the same time He is gracious, merciful and patient, a God who would spare sinners; a God of love.
His second reason is man, who put the distance there. So who should make the first move?
On whose side should the first move towards reconciliation come? On man's, of course, because it was he who created this distance from God… Instead, the first move comes from God Himself, the offended One, in His rich and overflowing grace! He makes it known that He does not want the distance to remain. Man would not repair it, and cannot, so the blessed God undertakes to do it. That is why God's requirements had to be met, and the penalty man had brought on himself had to be borne.
The verse joins the suffering to the rising on the third day. One writer shows why both were needed.
He had to die and rise again from the dead on the third day, and the souls of men were worth so much to Him that He came for that. The gospel that Paul preached, and there is no other true gospel, was "that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures." 1 Corinthians 15. His resurrection was as necessary as His death. In that same chapter, written to people who had believed this gospel, it says, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins."
Everything the disciples were about to be sent out to announce rests on this one sentence.
It is of the greatest importance to have a clear understanding of the solid ground on which "repentance and remission of sins" are announced to every creature under heaven… God — blessed forever be His holy name — has been pleased to set before us with all possible clearness the moral ground on which He commands all men everywhere to repent, and the righteous ground on which He can proclaim to every repentant soul the perfect remission of sins.
The same writer turns the necessity into a measuring rod that cuts both ways:
Sin was so hateful that Christ had to suffer. But — all praise to redeeming love! — such were the sufferings of Christ that God can forgive us our sins according to the infinite value He puts on them. The two go together… so while our peace flows like a river, we must never forget the humbling fact that our peace was founded in the indescribable sufferings of the Son of God.
Before He says "thus it is written," He opens their minds. Three things come together there:
First, the words of Jesus as the true basis of faith. Second, the Scriptures. Third, their understanding opened by the risen Lord. So they could say more than, "We have heard these words, we have heard Him say it, we have listened to His own voice." They could say: it must be so because God has said it. There is the real and true basis of faith.
What He did for them that day is not meant to stop with them:
Notice why He opens the Scriptures when He is with His own people, and opens their understanding too. They had not yet received the Holy Spirit, but we have, so the Lord expects a Christian to have his understanding opened. Why do we so often fail to understand? Something has come in that stops our souls being taught by Christ.
- Written. The cross was no accident and no afterthought. It stood in God's purposes before the world began, and in Scriptures that people of faith had long read.
- Necessary. The "must" comes from two facts: what God is, holy and yet loving, and what man is, unable to repair the distance he created.
- Suffered. Sin was so hateful that Christ had to suffer. His sufferings were so valuable that God can forgive according to the worth He puts on them.
- Risen. The rising on the third day is as necessary as the dying; without it faith is futile and sins remain.
- Opened. The risen Lord opens the understanding. Faith then rests not on hearing a voice but on what God has said — and He still expects open minds today.
and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations beginning at Jerusalem.
On the day He rose, Jesus turned His own death and resurrection into a message for the whole world. The verse says what to preach, in whose name, to whom, and where to start.
Each Gospel closes with a commission, and commentators tell them apart. One writer marks out Luke's as the one for gospel work today.
What right do we have to preach the gospel, and where did we get our commission? We got it from Luke 24. The commissions in Matthew's and Mark's Gospels have a Jewish character. They were given specially to "the eleven." The Matthew commission has yet to be fulfilled. The Mark commission was carried out in the days of the apostles. But this one in Luke's Gospel is ours, and it will run on until this gospel day is finished. It was given not to "the eleven" only, but to "them that were with them" also, and we come in there.
The message does not go out on general grounds. It goes out in a name.
It is to be preached in Christ's name, and we must bring in Christ as the ground of it — that is really grace. Repentance is the intelligent judgment that, under grace, we pass upon all that we have done, and upon all that we are. It is not mere sorrow for sin. Of course it must be a judgment we pass on ourselves, knowing what God is. Otherwise it would be incomplete.
Many people define repentance as just changing your mind. One writer says that falls short.
Repentance is not merely a change of mind. Do not let such a definition take hold of your mind. No doubt a mighty change of mind always comes with faith in Christ. The soul is completely turned around. But the change is not merely intellectual. It is moral. The soul comes to sit in judgment on itself. It pronounces God's judgment on its own ways, taking the place of a sinner, yes of a lost one, before God.
The verse names two things to preach, not one. One writer explains why both must stay.
They were to preach repentance and remission of sins in the name of the Risen Christ. Note that it was not remission of sins only, but repentance too. Without repentance, remission of sins could not be received. Repentance leads to self-judgment and confession. It produces the state of soul in which forgiveness of sins can be received and enjoyed... Repentance is not a condition of forgiveness, for God announces forgiveness to everyone who will receive it. But repentance brings the soul into that blessed state where it can thankfully receive the divine gift.
One writer turns this into a question for preachers.
Have we too lightly skipped over the "repentance" in our desire to arrive at the "remission of sins"? By all means say often, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved." But always remember: that was the brief word Paul gave to a repentant man, not to a careless sinner.
Jerusalem was the city where they had just killed Him.
The guilty murderers of the Son of God were the very first to hear the sweet news of pardoning love. In them all men could see a pattern of what the grace of God and the blood of Christ can do. The grace that could pardon Jerusalem sinners can pardon anyone. The blood that could cleanse the betrayers and murderers of the Christ of God can cleanse any sinner outside the boundaries of hell.
Another writer brings the same principle down to the person listening today.
But why begin at Jerusalem first? Because God always begins with the worst spot, and the worst man in this hall tonight will most likely be the one who will be saved tonight. Jesus said to them: begin at the spot where My blood was shed, where they shouted for My death. Preach forgiveness there. Then go to Samaria, and after that to the ends of the earth.
Starting at Jerusalem did not keep the message inside Israel. Luke's account looks at people as sinners, whoever they are. One writer notes who is still named first.
In Luke, suited to that Gospel, we have the gospel's moral subject and scope, taking in Jew and Gentile alike as sinners; for he looks especially at man... It is beautiful to see that the need and ruin of man are fully met. Yet testimony "to the Jew first" is not forgotten, even if Jerusalem was first in guilt as well as in privilege.
- Proclaimed — commentators point to Luke's commission as the one that covers gospel work today. It was given not only to the eleven, but to those with them.
- In His name — Christ Himself is the ground of the message. That is what makes it grace and not demand.
- Repentance — not a change of opinion. It is the soul judging itself before God, taking the place of a lost sinner.
- Forgiveness — God announces it to everyone who will receive it. Repentance is not a price paid. It is the state in which the gift can be thankfully taken.
- Beginning at Jerusalem — God starts at the worst spot. If grace reaches the men who killed Christ, no one is beyond its reach. From there it runs out to all nations.